Academics Comment on President’s Wording

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We have asked the academics Prof. Dr. Şahika Yüksel, journalist-academic member Tuğrul Eryılmaz, Prof. Dr. Ayşe Erzan, Prof. Dr. Gençay Gürsoy, and journalist-academic member Füsun Özbilgen about words such as “crappy so-called intellectual”, “dark”, “mandatary”, “ignorant” used by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for academics signing the peace statement.

Erzan: We guard our honor

It is unacceptable to launch a campaign against a statement asking for war and death to stop, right to live be defended. This is a bad sign for freedom of expression and basic rights in Turkey.

We don’t know how widespread the precautions such as launching against these academic members and even forcing them to resignation will become. We need to think about how to unite around these academics.

While we sign this petition and in fact report ourselves, we guard our honor against violating rights and liberties in Turkey.

Eryılmaz: Academics and academic members are not sultan’s household troops

It is a shame now even saying “This is what happens to people asking for peace”.

All people, all academics, all reporters want a world in which everyone speaks the same language, but I think it won’t be easy for them to reach this world.

Academics and academic members are not sultan’s household troops and academic works are not that easy. What does it mean to say academics live at state’s expense? They shall find whoever live at state’s expense and blame them.

Yüksel: YÖK acts within chain of command

YÖK has been established to discipline universities following September 12 [coup]. Today, it carries out its duty by instructions from civil sphere rather than military.

It is not possible to suppress demands for peace in this way. That's why the number of signess has increased after that.

Özbilgen: He insults anyone who doesn't support his wrong policies

Article no. 26 of the Constitution is very clear. Everyone has the right to express and spread their ideas individually or collectively.

The government trying to prevent this right from being exercised aims to pressure society by stigmatizing anyone as “terrorist atheist” to avert other thoughts than itself be expressed.

Head of the government filing criminal complaint of defame against any criticism against himself insults anyone who doesn’t support his wrong policies.

The government officials trying to make even the dissidents acting within constitutional limits as criminals. That is all about it.

Gürsoy: If anything comes over our friends signing this text, it is on Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

These incidents remind me of statements by Kenan Evren who was the president in the early 1980s. However, the head of the coup hadn’t blamed us by the expressions the president now uses. Even he hadn’t done that.

Today, Tayyip Erdoğan’s method is much more anti-democratic and oppressive than those times. The expression he used sufficed to mobilize nationalist militant groups everywhere.

Reports of threats and attacks come from various places of Anatolia against our academic member friends. YÖK (the Council of Higher Council) has taken action as soon the President gave the signal.

If anything comes over our friends signing this text, it is on Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. (EKN/NV/YY/HK/TK)